Monthly Archives: July 2010
Chocolate Covered Brown Sugar Bacon
The third and final installment in the Chocobacon Fest recipes is here. Chocolate Covered Brown Sugar Bacon. I got this idea after eating Praline Bacon at Elizabeth’s in New Orleans. For my version, I was originally calling it Chocolate Covered … Continue reading
Maple Chocolate Pudding with a Bacon Spoon
The Chocobacon Coma continues, and the following recipe is no joke.
This Maple Chocolate Pudding is so insanely delicious you might not be able to control yourself. For the sake of decency, I cannot even post what a fellow Chocobacon Fest-er said upon tasting this treat. Let’s just say it was REALLY good, and leave the rest up to your imagination.
This pudding is not like the standard Jello in consistency, rather it is a runny, gooey, delicious mess. Also, do not be disappointed by the fact that this recipe yields only 5-6 servings of about 2 oz. each. Your teeth would rot out of you had more than 2 oz. Trust me.
Also, you will need at least 2 bacon spoons per serving. What, you think you’re going to lick the pudding off of the bacon spoon with each magical bite? No, no. You’re not. You’re going to bite a heavenly bit of bacon with each and every scoop of pudding and you are not going to feel guilty for it for even one second.
As you can see in the pictures below, I had to serve the pudding in plastic cups because we were on a picnic. But, it would look even better in glass tumblers should the situation allow.
Maple Chocolate Pudding with Bacon Spoons
adapted from: PeaceLoveAndChocolate.com
5 oz milk chocolate, melted (I used 45% cacao)
3 oz heavy whipping cream
2 oz maple syrup, preferably Grade A amber
Vanilla bean, sliced in half and seeded (optional)
Bacon (I used maple bacon)
soak vanilla bean and scraped pod in heavy cream for anywhere from a few minutes to overnight
in a 375 degree oven, lay bacon in a single layer on baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Remove, pat oil with papertowels, and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, bring cream and vanilla to a boil. Once boil is reached, turn off heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove pod.
Melt chocolate on a double boiler or in microwave
Pour cream over melted chocolate and add maple syrup. Using a whisk, combine to a glossy emulsion.
Fill glasses with warm pudding and serve with a bacon spoon (and extra spoons on the side!)
Also on the Chocobacon Fest Menu: BLT Stuffed Tomatoes and Chocolate Covered Brown Sugar Bacon
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BLT Stuffed Tomatoes and a Chocobacon Fest
This past weekend my friends and I had a Chocobacon Fest.
I will pause now so that you can catch your breath. Yes, you are still alive. No, you have not died and gone to Bacon heaven. Yes, it really was that good.
Our menu included BLT stuffed tomatoes, bacon wrapped shrimp, bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds or chocolate, zucchini and squash sautéed in bacon grease, pomegranate sangria (ok, no bacon or chocolate there), maple chocolate pudding with bacon spoons, and chocolate covered brown sugar bacon.
Recipes for pudding and chocolate covered bacon will be posted later this week…once I pick myself up off of the floor from my Chocobacon induced coma.
For now, I offer you ….
BLT Stuffed Tomatoes
Source: Buns In My Oven
about 20 cherry tomatoes
8 ounces sour cream
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 t grated parmesan cheese
2 t fresh parsley, chopped
chives, for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
Wash cherry tomatoes and slice them in half. Use a paring knife or spoon to scrape out the insides. Dab the inside of each tomato with a paper towel to dry it and then sprinkle with salt.
Mix together the sour cream, bacon pieces, parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. Spoon or pipe the filling into each tomato and sprinkle the tops with chopped green onions.
Blueberry Upside Down Cake
Usually when you hear someone talking about freezing their eggs, they don’t mean the kind in their refrigerator. Then again, most people don’t have the ghost of the Abominable Snowman living in their fridge. I apparently do. I have known for some time now that the temperature dial in my refrigerator moves on its own. Every few days, it will migrate from “cold” to “coldest” and I’ll find my water and other miscellaneous items covered with a bit of crystallized ice. I just move the dial back and that’s that. But not today. Today, even the eggs were frozen. (Ironic since my apartment is an oven and I’d just love some of that cold fridge air to fill the house….) Fortunately I had just bought some new (unfrozen) eggs and was able to proceed with the day’s baking project – Blueberry Upside Down Cake.
I had actually gotten the idea of doing a Blueberry Upside Down Cake at New York’s famous “21 Club,” which I visited earlier this week as part of Summer Restaurant Week. I was, unfortunately, a bit disappointed by the food but the Blueberry Upside Down Cake was quite good and I decided to give it a go myself after finding a recipe on Thibeault’s Table. The cake was very moist and the blueberry juices crept into the cake perfectly. I used fresh blueberries and opted not to include cinnamon in my cake, as that just doesn’t strike me as a summer-y flavor, but I’m sure it’s good either way.
Blueberry Upside Down Cake
1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
2 c blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 T lemon juice
1/2 c butter
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/3 c cake flour (all purpose flour will work as well)
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon (optional)
3/4 c milk
In 9 inch square cake pan, combine melted butter and brown sugar; spread evenly on bottom. Spread blueberries evenly over top. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating until light.
Beat in egg and vanilla.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon if using. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to creamed mixture.
Spread batter evenly over blueberry layer. Bake in 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Let cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out on to large flat plate and serve warm or at room temperature.
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Serendipity’s Frrrozen Hot Chocolate
This summer has been so hot that baking is often out of the question. Days like these, you are better off just cooling off with a cold beverage. So, today’s post is a simple way to make your taste buds smile.
Serendipity’s Frrrozen Hot Chocolate originates in Serendipity 3, an NYC restaurant. I’ve had the original there and this famous recipe was released directly from the restaurant for their 50th anniversary. No tweaks, no caveats, just make it.
Serendipity’s Frrrozen Hot Chocolate
serves 2
6 half-ounce pieces of your favorite chocolate
2 t store-bought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 c milk
3 c ice
whipped cream
Chocolate shavings
Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted
Add hot chocolate powder and sugar, stirring constantly until blended
Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 c of milk and stir until smooth.
cool to room temperature
In a blender, place remaining cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri
Pour into a giant goblet, top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, enjoy!
P.S. Cats like it too. 🙂
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Peach Pound Cake with St. Germain Glaze
It’s rewarding when you make a recipe that turns out great. But it’s REALLY rewarding when you invent a recipe that just rocks your socks off. And that, my friends, is what happened here.
A few days ago a friend of mine gave me a bottle of St. Germain, an elderflower liqueur. The irony here is that neither he nor I really drink all that much…somewhere between rarely and next-to-never. But, St. Germain is a very light, very refreshing liqueur that doesn’t even
taste like alcohol. It can be easily mixed with champagne, club soda, or tonic; it would go nicely in a mimosa, and even when sipped alone it doesn’t make your face all pucker up.
I set myself up with the challenge to try to use this in a recipe. Because the drink is so light, I knew I could not pair it with any bold flavors, but also needed to stick to something with a hint of summer. So I decided peach would complement the flavors of the elderflower.
I settled on a peach pound cake. No recipes looked quite right, so I invented my own. Truth be told, the recipe below was my second attempt. The first had actual diced peaches and peach syrup in it and the texture was just wrong. So, I omitted those ingredients and instead just used peach nectar for attempt number two. Bingo. Not to toot my own horn, but this is the moistest pound cake I think I’ve ever had.
The peach flavor is subtle, but I don’t know what one could use to make it bolder aside from peach extract, which I doubt many people have (though I looked it up, it does exist). On the other hand, the subtlety of the peach allows the St. Germain to shine.
I used the St. Germain for the glaze. For this, you’ll have to add the liqueur by taste, adjusting according to your preference. If you don’t want to include alcohol, just leave that out of the recipe, reduce the powdered sugar, and have a traditional glaze. Similarly, I see no reason why the St. Germain could not be substituted with something like Peach Schnapps, Grand Marnier, or Champagne. Get creative and come up with your own flavors.
Peach Pound Cake
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 c. granulated sugar
4 large eggs (room temperature)
3 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 1/4 c. peach nectar (room temperature) (I used Goya)
3/4 c. buttermilk (room temperature)
1 t. vanilla
Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
With the mixer on medium speed, add eggs, one at a time.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a third bowl, combine peach nectar, buttermilk, and vanilla.
Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes in bundt pan, remove (don’t worry if there are small flaws, glaze will cover it), cool completely and glaze
St. Germain Glaze
2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 T softened butter
3 T milk
St. Germain to taste (I used about 1 1/2 shots)
Combine, adjusting St. Germain and powdered sugar to desired taste and consistency.
Pina Colada Pie – my first post!
After some deliberation I’ve decided to start a baking blog. As luck would have it, this very week that I set out to start it we are in the midst of a major heatwave. It’s day 4. 102 degrees today.
So, I decided to outsmart the heat and make an icebox pie. I found a delicious sounding recipe for a pina colada pie that suited me and I bought all of the necessary ingredients.
Lesson 1: read the directions very, very thoroughly prior to setting your mind to a baking project. The crust baking was unfortunate but tolerable because it was 6 minutes and I just escaped into my singular air conditioned room (the bedroom). What I wasn’t prepared for until, oh, reading step 2, was the fact that I’d be standing over a double boiler. In my 97 degree kitchen. (Not exaggerating.) But, I set out to do this and I’m doing it! It took longer than expected, as the gelatin was supposed to set in 10 minutes. Guess that’s a bit longer when it’s 97 degrees in your kitchen. Even in my fridge it took close to an hour. Use your judgement and monitor the filling for consistency and thickening.
Crust baked. Pie filling poured. Pie setting in fridge overnight. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzap. Electricity is out. Great. Now my starting-to-set-pie is in a fridge that will not be cold for very long. Seriously folks, just don’t bake in a heatwave. The forces of nature and technology are ALL against you.
So, it’s 11pm, I’m in my pajamas, teeth brushed, bedtime prayers said and I’m filling a cooler with my goods to take the contents of my fridge and freezer, including the cursed Pina Colada Pie, to my office kitchen.
I’m hopeful that first thing in the morning I can snap some requisite pictures of the pie for the blog here and add them in tomorrow, but considering the events described above, I trust that you will grant me some slack and use your imaginations as to what the pie looks like. I encourage you all to try this yummy treat, but just don’t do it during a heatwave.
Cursed Pina Colada Pie
adapted from Icebox Pies by Lauren Chattman
Vanilla Wafer Crust
50 Vanilla wafer cookies
5 T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/8 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
Preheat over to 350
In food processor, chop cookies until finely ground. Combine crumbs, butter, salt, and vanilla in bowl, stir until moistened
Press mixture evenly across bottom and up sides of 9-inch pie pan, packing tightly
Bake until golden, 6-8 minutes. Cool completely before filling
Pina Colada Pie Filling
2 T cold water
2 t unflavored gelatin
2/3 c sugar
3 large eggs
6 oz pineapple juice (canned)
½ c unsweetened coconut milk
¾ c heavy cream
Place cold water in bowl, sprinkle with gelatin. Let gelatin stand to dissolve
On a double boiler, whisk together sugar, eggs, pineapple juice, and coconut milk, making sure metal bowl does not touch bottom of saucepan. Heat, whisking constantly, until 160 degrees on thermometer.
Remove bowl from double boiler and whisk in gelatin. Let stand on ice or in fridge until it begins to thicken, whisking occasionally.
Whip heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into pineapple mixture.
Fill pie shell. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until completely set, at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.
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Sweet Jumbles 